Gathered
by Kamikaze Pedestrian
Summary: Blade of the Immortal drabbles. Doa/Rin, Anotsu/Magatsu, Doa/Isaku, Anotsu/Hisoka
1. Habitual Sympathy

It mustn't become a habit, Rin thinks to herself, so when Doa rolls over to her futon the second night, Rin resolutely pushes

It mustn't become a habit, Rin thinks to herself, so when Doa rolls over to her futon the second night, Rin resolutely pushes her away.

She is back two seconds later, eyes shining with clingy determination as fierce and persistent as a wasp. The struggle is short and in vain.

It mustn't become a habit, Rin thinks to herself and falls asleep with tiny hands fisted in her hair.

Doa's lips taste salty of tears and need and fear when they seek out Rin's mouth in the middle of the night, waking her. They are surprisingly soft for being this firm, this decided. Doa kisses with her eyes closed and her tongue fierce, as if expecting defences to

break down.

It mustn't become a habit, Rin thinks to herself and opens her own lips a little more.


	2. Change

When they caught up with spring she picked him wild flowers, cutting their stems with her knife while singing little songs wit

When they caught up with spring she picked him wild flowers, cutting their stems with her knife while singing little songs with nonsensical words. She waved uneven bouquets in his face and he kept them tucked into his kimono until they became limp and soft like overcooked noodles.

Her hand when it snuck into his was stained with grass and sticky with sap. He held it as tightly as he dared without bruising her fingers.

These days, she cuts him heads. He prays for their souls and crosses himself until his shoulder grows numb from the motion. She curses instead of sings, and her hand when it finds his is callused and strong with dried blood under the nails.

He holds it just as tightly.


	3. A Good Thing

Anotsu never comments on his return

Anotsu never comments on his return. He finds it to be a relief.

Magatsu follows him (only he walks by his side, because Magatsu Taito isn't a follower), fights for him (only it feels more like fighting for himself) and watches his back (only sometimes he thinks of it as protecting).

It is as before, only closer. That, he decides once he's thought about it, is a good thing.

Then it all gets messy, and they must disappear. Go in hiding.

They don't hide together. That, he decides once he's thought about it, is a good thing.

Magatsu follows no one (only sometimes he isn't really sure where to go next), he fights for reasons he thinks of himself (only he finds them somewhat lacking), and he watches his own back (only it's sometimes strangely lonely).

When they meet again, Anotsu doesn't comment on the absence. This time, there is no relief.


	4. Natural

She trains, and she gets better

She trains, and she gets better. Slowly but surely. Blister by blister, bruise by bruise.

Doa is already good.

Doa moves with natural grace, with the feral instinct of a forest animal, and when reason goes out in her eyes and the bloodlust sets in, she is lost in a blur of speed and want and death.

Rin isn't jealous, she concludes, swallowing the lump of fear in her throat, reminding herself of the girl inside the fighter, of the crying, shaking bundle of confusion and fear she's soothed through the nights. She can't fight as well as Doa and never will. In the end, she is glad for it.

She gets behind Manji's defences. Slowly but surely. Excuse after excuse, image by image.

Doa is already where she wants to be.

There are no fences between her and Isaku, and when they touch, talk, exchange glances, it is with natural closeness as reflexive as breathing.

She isn't jealous, Rin concludes, turning her head when Doa reaches up to nibble at Isaku's lower lip, reminding herself of the desperate dependence, of the subservient silences and sheepish smiles. Manji isn't Isaku, and will never be. In the end, she is glad for it.

So she isn't jealous, Rin concludes, and in the end she is glad. Then Doa puts a hand over hers in a gesture so natural and warm that sends ripples throughout her body, before leaning in close, close and leaving again without feeling the pull, the empty space. And maybe she is jealous after all.


	5. Tightly

Anotsu lets his hair out on their wedding day

Anotsu lets his hair out on their wedding day. There isn't much of a difference.

The obi is tied tight around her waist, the kimono wrapped tight around her knees. Hisoka walks with small, tripping steps, her breath shallow and fast. She thinks maybe she's happy.

Anotsu's lips are perched tightly together. He is very quiet, as quiet as she tries to be, but fails. They part when he comes, soon after her own release. His lips look very full this close, this late. It might be a trick of the light.

Anotsu ties his hair up again the next morning. There isn't much of a difference.


	6. But I'm Not In It For My Health

His face when he pulls down the mask is wet of sweat and blood and the damp of his own breath

His face when he pulls down the mask is wet of sweat and blood and the damp of his own breath. His lips when he licks them taste like iron. Magatsu breathes out the smell of death still lingering in his nostrils, exchanging it for fresh air with a scent of water. Anotsu is already waist-deep into the pond.

His arms when he washes off the filth of battle clinging to his face, his hair, his body, look much too thin for the strength they wield. Anotsu's skin is very white in the sunlight. Magatsu finds himself wishing for rain.

The blood on his kimono is drying, the fabric stiff, dark, cracking. His fingers shiver a little from fatigue as he unties the obi. The sun is relentless, the heat heavy in his chest, burning in his lungs. In the pond, Anotsu dips his head under the surface. Magatsu holds his breath until he appears again.

"We will do this many times from now," Anotsu says, and his eyes are counting the bruises on Magatsu's torso, counting times he didn't get cut. "We will not always get away this easy."

Magatsu puts one foot into the water, takes a step. Takes another. It chills him to the bone. He welcomes it.

"I'm not in it for my health."

There is a small smile on Anotsu's face when he nods, twice.

Magatsu dips his head under the surface and breathes in water.


End file.
